Autopsy findings of patients with urological neoplasms.
BACKGROUND: A study was carried out to gain extensive understanding of the disease status in patients who had suffered and died of urological neoplasms. METHODS: The subjects were 524 patients who had died at the Department of Urology of Gunma Cancer Center. The autopsy rate for each urological, neoplasm, the extent of the disease, and incidental diseases were analyzed. RESULTS: Autopsies were performed in 27.1% (142/524) of the patients. Frequent metastatic sites were the lymph nodes, bone, and lung in prostate neoplasms; the lymph nodes, liver, and lung in bladder neoplasms; and the lymph nodes, lung, and bone in kidney neoplasms. In the 116 patients with these three major urological neoplasms, the autopsy findings of all patients were compatible with progression of the disease, except for 5 cases (acute myocardial infarction in 2 and liver failure in 3). Multiple primary cancers were seen in 21.6% (25/116), and other cancers that caused death, apart from those at urological sites, were confirmed in 7 patients (pancreas in 2, and esophagus, lung, gallbladder, liver, and uterus in 1 patient each). CONCLUSION: Autopsies revealed the macroscopic and microscopic extent of the disease and the presence of incidental disease beyond the diagnosis made in the patient's lifetime.